Rouge and Talia: Beautiful Beginnings
by Lord Zzub Zzub
Summary: It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and an enraged lightning wizard was chasing Rouge and the other party members through the forest. It was the last place he expected to find love...


Lightning. The drum of horses hooves. The crackling of fire and the splintering of wood. All of these things filled Rouge's eyes and ears as he pressed his Unicorn harder and harder onward, deeper into the forest. Sitting on his shoulder, trying not to be thrown off by the bouncing gallop of Rouge's ride, was Shadow the fairy.

Directly behind and flying furiously after them was a powerful lightning wielder of the Wizards Guild: Akzule. Riding at a safe distance behind the enraged Akzule was Darien, a super stealthy and handsome ranger who never missed a shot with his magical silver longbow. Ever. He also had a thing for hiding in the bushes.

Akzule threw down a bolt of lightning and a nearby magnolia tree burst into flames. Bark and leaves blasted from the tree trunk when the bolt struck it. That could very easily have been pieces of Rouge and Shadow. But not Darien, of course. He was way too fast for the wizard, and much too sneaky.

"We have to do something," Rouge thought aloud to his tiny companion "before he leaves us and this forest in ashes."

Shadow shuddered and looked back at Akzule nervously as he soared through the trees after them, his red cloak flowing behind him. She had seen what he could do. Just that morning he had reduced a church building to a pile of dust with a devastating lightning strike. He nearly took them with it. But after their encounter with the wizard they found that their weapons were almost completely useless against the monster, and they had nearly been defeated. If it werent for that handsome lad Darien and his epic roast battle with Akzule that had bought them time, they would all be toast.

Soon the forest around them thinned, and Rouge found himself pressing his Unicorn onward through a grassy field. With a shower of magnolia wood and sparks Akzule burst from the forest behind him and surged forth. Rouge began to grow frantic. Shadow clung to his shoulder and cast nervous glances back at their approaching doom. What could be done? _If only Darien were here,_ thought Rouge. _He would know what to do._

"Whats that?" Shadow cried.

Rouge squinted his eyes and peered ahead. In the middle of the field, sitting all alone and picking flowers, was a young girl. She was adorned in green cloaks, and as she looked in his direction, her bright green eyes locked onto Rouge's, and the sound of Akzules lightning faded away. Rouge felt his heart beat faster. Even though he was in mortal danger, a mad killer right behind him, he found that he couldnt peel his eyes off of the strange girl's face.

Before he even knew what he was doing, Rouge slowed his Unicorn down beside her, reached down, and swiftly scooped her up and into the saddle behind him. She didnt try to resist, but instead clung to him, so as to avoid falling off of the galloping beast.

"Um... hi," he stuttered. "I'm Rouge. Whats up?"

"I'm Talia." the girl replied, not hesitant in the least. "Why are you running from one of the Wizards Guild?"

"Uhhhh..." Rouge had no idea what to say. He had never even heard of the Wizards Guild. "Why do you ask?"

"Well for all I know you may have broken into their guild hall." Talia said as if it were obvious.

Rouge thought of the church building that had been reduced to smitherines. It looked like it could have been a hall.

"I'm going to be honest with you," he said at last. "I have no idea what your talking about."

Talia laughed. "I like you." she said simply. "I think Im gonna call you Boo."

Rouge felt his cheeks turning red. A smile broke loose on his face. He looked back at Talia, and their eyes met once more. He felt like he could look into her bright green eyes forever. He was so captivated by her gaze that he forgot Shadow was still sitting their on his shoulder with a disgusted and confused look on her face.

Just then a shriek filled the air. The three riders whipped their heads around just in time to see Akzule fall from the sky, his body tumbling around in the grass, tainting it with his blood. When he stopped rolling around in the dirt and layed still, they saw that an arrow was protruding out of his back.

Darien galloped in on Matthius. His silver longbow glistened in the sunlight. He had a proud smile on his face. "Top of the morning to you Rouge, Shadow." he paused and eyed Talia. "Morning my lady," he said.

Rouge put his arm around Talia in a defensive manner. "Nah man she's my girl!" he shouted, slinging his shotgun over his shoulder.

It was then that Darien put an arrow through Rouge's face, and galloped away to continue his own adventure. After many glorious battles he singlehandedly destroyed Anarchy, the puppeteer, and he was praised by The Five and all the people of the land, and as he road through villages during his campaign of parades, maidens would faint at his passing. And no one ever questioned his fame, or denied that this story was completely true, to the letter.

The End.


End file.
